Our Pennsylvania opioid hospital litigation lawyers offer representation to hospitals that sustain economic damages related to the opioid epidemic. The opioid crisis that has spread across the nation resulted from aggressive and misleading marketing by prescription opioid manufacturers.
Individuals, governmental entities, third party payors, and hospitals have incurred exorbitant costs in dealing with opioid addiction and its effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported national opioid abuse and addiction related costs in excess of $78.5 billion in 2013, alone, which included costs for:
- productivity loss ($42 billion)
- health insurance ($26.1 billion)
- criminal justice ($7.6 billion)
- substance abuse treatment ($2.8 billion)
Pennsylvania hospitals may be entitled to compensation from prescription opioid manufacturers and marketers for their individual shares of these excessive costs.
Opioid-Related Hospital Cost Statistics
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Data
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), opioid abusers are more likely than non-abusers to use:
- hospital emergency room services
- inpatient hospital services
- physician outpatient services
- mental health outpatient hospital visits
- other healthcare services
The NIH also reported a 414% increase in treatment admissions between 1997 and 2007 for prescription opioid abuse.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project User Support (HCUP-US) Data
According to HCUP-US Statistical Brief #219 (Opioid-Related Inpatient Stays and Emergency Department Visits by State, 2009-2014):
- the national rate of opioid-related inpatient hospital stays increased 64.1% between 2005 and 2014
- the national rate of opioid-related emergency department hospital visits increased 99.4 % between 2005 and 2014
- the rate of opioid-related inpatient hospital stays increased in most States between 2009 and 2014
- the rate of opioid-related emergency department hospital visits increased in most States between 2009 and 2014
- the rate of Pennsylvania opioid-related inpatient hospital stays was 285.1 per 100,000 population in 2014
- Pennsylvania experienced a cumulative 58.9% increase in opioid-related inpatient stays from 2009 to 2014
Causes of Opioid-Related Hospital Costs
Prescription opioid manufacturers’ unscrupulous marketing of prescription opioids constitutes a significant cause of:
- a national crisis caused by rampant nationwide opioid addiction
- resultant opioid-related costs incurred by hospitals throughout Pennsylvania and the country
Opioid litigation commenced by Pennsylvania opioid hospital litigation lawyers may allege that prescription opioid manufacturers:
- aggressively marketed prescription opioids to prescribers, distributors, and consumers
- knowingly misrepresented the serious risks of prescription opioid addiction
- knowingly misrepresented the challenges of opioid prescription withdrawal
- knowingly misrepresented the challenges of preventing, managing, and controlling prescription opioid addiction
- knowingly misrepresented the risks associated with increased dosages of prescription opioids
- knowingly misrepresented prescription opioid benefits in comparison with alternative pain treatments
- otherwise misrepresented the serious risks associated with prescription opioid use
- continued these marketing practices in the face of expanding national opioid addiction
Recoverable Costs in Opioid Hospital Litigation
Costs incurred by hospitals that may be recoverable in opioid hospital litigation may include, but are not limited to:
- operational costs incurred in treating opioid overdoses
- operational costs incurred in treating opioid addictions
- costs of neonatal treatment for infants born with opioid addictions
- costs of mental health programs for patients with opioid addictions
- operational costs incurred in dealing with patients seeking opioids under false pretenses (pill seekers)
- increased surgical costs for surgeries complicated by opioid addiction
- losses incurred in treating uninsured and underinsured opioid-addicted patients
Opioid Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)
On December 5, 2017, The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) formed an Opioid MDL in the Northern District of Ohio to handle the pre-trial and discovery phases of federal opioid government, hospital, and other non-individual opioid litigation cases. Currently filed federal cases are automatically transferred to the MDL court for this phase of the litigation. New federal cases instituted by hospitals will be filed directly with the MDL court.
Contact our Pennsylvania Opioid Hospital Litigation Lawyers
Hospitals may be entitled to compensation from prescription opioid manufacturers for economic costs caused by the opioid crisis. Feldman & Pinto, P.C., is a Philadelphia based personal injury firm concentrating their practice in pharmaceutical litigation and medical malpractice. We are part of a team of lawyers engaged in a fight to compensate hospitals for costs incurred as a result of the opioid epidemic.
Please contact our Pennsylvania opioid hospital litigation lawyers to discuss instituting opioid hospital litigation.